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One day I was coming back from Church with my grandma and my mom. We pulled up in our driveway. I got out of the driver’s seat and helped my grandma get out of the car. Our house has set of stairs with 8 steps leading to the house. My mother climbed up the set of stairs first to the house to open the door for us.

Walking for my grandma is difficult and she uses a walking cane now. I helped her up the first couple of steps. Then I doubled back to the car to grab the portable breathing cannister that helps with her breathing. I closed the door and then came back to help my grandma up.

My mom came back from the door and told me me something that I’ll never forget:

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I’ve been slowly chipping away at my setup tasks for the U.S. Its a longish list that seems to never end and only gets bigger. One of the big things was getting my drivers license.

I really wanted to get my license so I can drive in the future. Today I went to the Californian DMV (Department of Motor Vehicles) and passed my written driving text exam! So I’m 50% of the way there. To do the behind the wheel test you need to do the written test first. Ironically, its not actually written. You stand in front of a touch screen computer and push some buttons.

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This morning I was in a rush to get the train to work and I also wanted to grab breakfast on the way. So I stopped by a local cafe next to the train station. I ordered a bagel with cream cheese. I thought that it came with cream cheese already and they could put it in a bag and give it to me. Instead I had to wait a few mins for it to be heated and then I discovered I had to spread it myself. I kept checking the clock, but still made the train and ate my bagel too while waiting.

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Today was an unusual day. Its a Wednesday, hump day so its half way through the week. At about 1030am, I decided to get a covfefe coffee from Dana Street Roasters, my local cafe in Mountain View. When I got home, I decided to do my laundry. Then made dinner, cleaned the stove and vacuumed my room. The reason I say its unusual is that I haven’t done these things in a long time.

Home made dinner – a combination of random stuff

I realised on Monday night (Day 88), I hadn’t been home in the evening in a while. When I spoke to my room mate, French, he mentioned that I hadn’t cooked in a while. I haven’t been home in the evening in about 3 weeks. Whilst tonight, I could have gone out to join the Aussies in Tech meetup or met up with a friend, I decided I was going to have a quiet evening on Day 90. Its been a combination of co-workers from Australia being in town, meeting new people, visitors from out of town, and doing stuff.

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I’m 13 days into landing in the US. Its been an interesting ride to say the least! Most of this covers Day 8 – 10. But hey its my blog and I’m going to reflect on my journey 🙂

On Day 8, I inspected some apartments with a destination services company that my employer had organised. Destination services help you look for housing, area orientation, getting a social security number, drivers license, banking, and more. I had 3 days available for their services. I chose to use them to help me look for accommodation. I did the other things myself as I figured it would be straightforward.

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Since I arrived in America, the hunt has been on. For a place to rent that is! But first some background that I didn’t mention in my first blog post.

An opportunity not to be squandered

I’m one of the fortunate ones to get a soft landing arriving in a new country which I’ve explained in Day Zero. I’m cognisant of this fact. What I didn’t mention in my last blog post is the experience my parents went through when they migrated to Australia and why I’m grateful for my experience so far. My only recollection on my parents migrating to Australia is from the anecdotal stories they handed down to me. My mother chose to migrate to Australia because it was one of the few countries that recognised her qualifications from Hong Kong as a nurse. This is because it was also a Commonwealth country. She chose Australia because she knew a friend of a friend of a friend of a friend. Basically, some random connection from her home. But it was better than nothing.

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I’m writing this post as a record for myself and also to share with others my experience of moving to America. There might be some things I’m doing wrong, but this is my journey that I’m sharing with you. All the bumps, bruises, and laughs.

Working in Silicon Valley has been something I’ve wanted to do for a while. For now, I’ll start with day zero, which is upon landing in America. Why Day 0? Well its what we call it when user first downloads and installs an app. If they make it to the next day, its Day 1 :). From Zero to One!